Geneva - world centre for resolving commercial disputes

Birgit Sambeth Glasner at the Propeller Club Geneva.

The evening will be introduced by Geert Descheemaeker, Secretary General of the GTSA.  The GTSA has already performed valuable services to the local Commodity Trading Community, for example by developing in collaboration with the University of Geneva, the Diploma of Advanced Studies and the Master’s in Commodity Trading. GTSA is also developing a multibank electronic platform to ease trade finance communications between commodity traders and their banks.

With the huge growth in the number and activity of commodity trading companies in Geneva, is it not time to promote Geneva as a venue for resolving such disputes?  It is already an important centre for international arbitration but not for shipping and trading disputes, the majority of which are still resolved in arbitration in London or in the High Court there.  At the same time, why not explore the possibilities associated with mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (“ADR”)? 

The subject will be introduced by Jeremy Davies of Davies Johnson & Co SA, shipping and trading solicitors based in Geneva, and Birgit Sambeth Glasner of Altenburger.  Birgit is vice-president of the Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation, the President of the ADR Commission of the Geneva Bar and a member of the Conseil de l’Ordre des Avocats de Genève. She has conducted a large number of commercial mediations in various places in the world.

In a session before dinner, our two main speakers will outline the main differences between litigation, arbitration, mediation and conciliation and explain how each works.